19 Jan 2006(Thu)

January 18, 2006 -- What's happening at the Asian Football Confederation these days?

First there was the farce over the Player of the Year award for 2005, when the AFC ruled out any player who could not attend the gala dinner and prize presentation in Kuala Lumpur.

This made Saudi Arabia's....well, I've forgotten his name already....Asian Player of the Year.

Now we have the problems over the qualifying competition for the 2007 Asian Cup.

Even before the draw was made, I thought it was very unfair that the four Asian teams who had qualified for the World Cup should have to play qualifying games for next year's Asian Cup before the finals in Germany. Surely the four teams -- Japan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and South Korea -- should have been given a clear first half of the year to organise their own World Cup build-up.

But when Japan were drawn to play Saudi away on March 1, the JFA gave their full backing to the match, saying it would be good preparation for the World Cup as they could bring all their European exiles to the Middle East for a competitive game.

Then Saudi, without Japan's backing, asked the AFC to postpone the Asian Cup qualifier until September 1. Instead the Saudis will play a friendly against Serbia and Montenegro.

The AFC agreed to the request, which leaves Japan without an opponent on March 1, and on the end of some shabby treatment by Asia's governing body.

However, "Captain" Kawabuchi has come to the rescue!

The JFA president has revealed that Japan are trying to organise a game against Bosnia in Germany at one of the World Cup stadiums on March 1.

This is a smart move for several reasons.

Bosnia, like Croatia, used to belong to the old Yugoslavia, and will have a similar style of play to Japan's second World Cup opponents in Germany.

By playing in Europe, Japan's exiles will have minimal disruption to their body clocks.

Third, it will give Japan another "feel" for Germany, following their Confederations Cup campaign last summer.

And finally, it should provide Japan with a win on European soil, which will boost confidence as the countdown continues.

So it looks like Japan might come out of this sorry episode in good shape.

But it was never a good idea by the AFC to give its four World Cup teams (not including newcomers Australia) an extra burden in this important period.

ends